探戈与性别平等

有人真的认为传统的阿根廷探戈在政治上是不正确的，而欧洲和北美的开式拥抱探戈是经过净化提纯,符合现代世界要求的探戈。我最近所读过的一本书表达了以下观点： 

“在欧洲，人们的想法似乎是，舞蹈中的和谐是经由双方同意而实现的，男人和女人是平等的舞伴。然而，即使在今天，在布宜诺斯艾利斯，我得到的鲜明印象是，他们认为男人是在完全掌控中，每一个动作都是由男人领出来的，舞蹈的进展是一系列有效带领的后果......一个阿根廷探戈网站近期的一篇文章涉及到男人和女人之间的关系，它使用了‘女人对待委身的态度’这样的词语......我完全不能肯定这个观念在跟我跳舞的女人中会有多少人接受。我明白查看探戈历史上毫无疑问的大男子主义倾向可能有意思，或许从中也能对我们今天可以怎么跳舞得到一些启发。但我不乐意接受这个观念在现代世界中仍然是探戈的本质感觉。更吸引我的观点是，探戈是从一个幸运的，主要起源于欧洲的多元文化中演变出来的。探戈似乎在二十世纪二十年代在巴黎被输入精致文雅的血液。在我看来，它今天似乎又受益于欧洲各地在其手臂上注射的血液。探戈在这里发展迅速，并得到净化提纯以符合现代人际关系的要求。我相信它可能正在失去其狭隘的，甚至是地主义的风格，而在一个新的，更有凝聚力的欧洲人民手中变得真正国际化了。我们不是沮丧想家，困苦不堪，离家千里，寻求爱情，却只有太少女人能分享的欧洲人。我们是新世界中的新人类。虽然我们作为个人带入舞蹈的激情是与所有的男人和女人从起初就共享的基本感受相同的，其强度却必然不同，而最重要的是，两性之间的平衡已经改变了。也可能在欧洲，我们的社会是在以与拉丁美洲不同的速度发展，虽然我想不是朝着不同的方向。今天的欧洲妇女有着极大的权力，地位和影响力，而且她们把自己的需要很清楚地表达出来。现代欧洲妇女对大男子主义态度是不会有太正面的反应的......女人似乎喜欢自己的男人有自信，但又希望他们细腻体贴。女人痛恨被人欺负。她们喜欢被人邀请，并想感觉到是否按自己的意愿接受或拒绝是在她们自己的完全控制中。接受邀请并不是‘委身'......当你想到很久以前，在二十世纪初期，渴望被女人触摸的粗俗男人在妓院里跳探戈舞，男女亲密是他们那时所做的交易。开式拥抱是对探戈进行“消毒”以使它适合更文雅的人士和更广大的观众而发展起来的。”

作者对他显然不太了解的事所持的那种优越态度是荒唐可笑的。传统探戈不是欺负人。开式探戈也不尽温文尔雅。认为跳闭式探戈的人比跳开式探戈的人肮脏而缺乏文明的观点是荒谬和虚伪的。

然而，让我更担忧的是他的平等观念。我恐怕它确实反映了欧洲和北美一些人对传统探戈所持的偏见和把探戈改变为一个中性舞蹈的企图。我们为那些对自己的性别取向不安的人争取权利，这是应该的，因为他们也是人。但我们大多数人对自己的性别没有问题。我所知道的大多数男人对他们的男性特征和阳刚之气感到自豪。他们的行为，功能和舞蹈象男人。我所知道的大多数女人为她们的女性特征和女人味感到骄傲。她们的行为，功能和舞蹈象女人。男人和女人彼此平等并相互吸引，因为他们是他们所是。他们互相欣赏，互相珍惜，互相需要，相得益彰。女人生育和照顾后代。男人保护，并为他们提供。两性在生活和舞蹈中扮演不同的角色，这没有人，尤其是现代男女，应该感到羞愧。真正的现代人不认为女人需要表现得象男人一样才与男人平等。她们可以是女人，而仍然与男人平等。真正的现代的人相信男性和女性的关系是以爱为基础的，而不是以权力为基础的。他们不认为异性之间的纯洁亲密是污秽的。他们也不对人持沙文主义的态度，特别是对一个人民，其艺术他们深深受益，而其文化他们可能还未完全理解。

正如我在另一篇文章中所说，“探戈的精髓是欢迎别人进入你的个人空间，接受那个人，向他委身，放弃你的自我，倾听那人内心的声音和感受，做个体贴，合作，谦让，顺应的人，享受两人间的亲 密，与他/她合而为一，并给他/她以安慰，快乐和爱。这与我们的文化所代表的观念，即个人主义，独立性，自我利益，敌对好斗，是不同的。”（《爱的艺术》）与作者所认为的恰恰相反，探戈中的委身是相互的。只有在委身中我们才停止竞争而开始彼此适应。探戈在现代世界中深受欢迎是因为它有使人升华的力量。它使我们完整，让我们能在一种亲密关系中与对方成为一体,而免遭属于上个世纪的论断指责。探戈是与虚伪相反的。在探戈中我们变成更美好，更健康，更自然，更融洽的男性和女性。那些倾向于“政治上正确”而不是正当的人性，性别中性化而不是性别解放，权力斗争而不是爱，分离而不是融合，疏远而不是亲密，傲慢而不是谦卑，个人表现而不是伙伴关系的人生活在过去的阴影中。他们是在以与拉丁美洲不同的速度发展，而且不是象作者所认为的那样朝着同一个方向。他们当然不代表探戈的未来。

Tango and Gender Equality

There are people who actually think that the traditional tango of Argentina is politically incorrect, and the open-embrace tango of Europe and North America is the distilled and sanitized version of tango that meets the requirements of the modern world. A book I read recently expressed the following opinion:

“In Europe, the idea seems to be that harmony in dance is arrived at by mutual consent and that men and women are equal partners. I get the distinct impression, however, that even today, in Buenos Aires, the idea is that the man is in complete control; every action has its lead and the progress of the dance is a series of well-established consequences… A recent article from a tango web site in Argentina touched on the relationship between the man and the woman. It used the phrase ‘The woman’s attitude of surrender’… I am not at all sure this notion would find much acceptability with the women I dance with. I can see how it might be interesting to look at the undoubtedly macho flavour in history of tango and perhaps derive some ideas from it for our dance-play today. I am less happy to accept this idea as the essential feeling of tango in the modern world. I am more attracted to the idea that tango evolved out of a lucky fusion of multiple cultures, mostly European in origin. It seems that it received a transfusion of refinement in Paris in the 1920s, and it looks to me as if it is benefiting today from another shot in the arm all over Europe. Tango is growing apace here and is being distilled to meet the requirements of today’s relationships. I believe it may be losing its narrow, even parochial feel and is becoming truly international in the hands of a new and more cohesive European people. We are not frustrated, homesick, stressed Europeans, seeking love miles from home with too few women to share. We are a new breed in a new world. Though the passions we bring as individuals to the dance will be the same basic feelings all men and women have shared since the beginning of time, the intensity must be different, and the balance between the sexes has altered most of all. It may also be the case that our societies in Europe are evolving at a different pace from that of Latin America, though not, I suspect, in a different direction. In the Europe today women have immense power, status and influence and they express their needs very clearly. The modern European woman is unlikely to respond too positively to macho posturing… It seems women like their men to be positive but they also want finesse and thoughtfulness. Women hate to be bullied. They prefer to be invited and to feel that they are in full control to accept, or decline, as they feel. Accepting an invitation is not ‘surrender' (See How Tango Is Led)... When you think about tango being danced way back at the beginning of the 20th century by earthy men in bordellos, hungry for a woman’s touch, closeness between a man and a woman was the business they were in. It was in the ‘sanitising’ of tango for the more genteel public and the wider world audience that the open embrace evolved.”

The author’s attitude of superiority toward something he apparently has little understanding is absurd. The traditional tango is not bullying. Neither is the open embrace tango all genteel. To suggest that people who dance in close embrace are somewhat dirty and less civilized than those who dance in open embrace is ridiculous and hypocritical.

What concerns me most, however, is his view on equality. I am afraid it could indeed reflect the prejudice against the traditional tango and the attempt to change tango to a gender-neutral dance in Europe and North America. We fight for the rights of those who are uneasy with their sex orientations, and we should, because they are human beings, too. But most of us do not have problems with our own genders. Most men that I know are happy with their manhood and masculinity, and they behave, function and dance like men. Most women that I know are happy with their womanhood and femininity, and they behave, function and dance like women. Men and women are equal and attractive to each other because of who they are. They appreciate, cherish, need, and complement each other. Women bear and nurse offspring. Men protect and provide for them. They play different roles in life and dance, which nobody, certainly no modern men and women, should feel ashamed of. True modern people do not think that women should act like men in order to be equal with men. They can be women, and still be equal with men. True modern people believe that the relationship between men and women is love-based and not power-based. They do not regard decent intimacy between the opposite sexes as filthy, and they are not chauvinistic, especially toward a people whose art they are deeply indebted to, and whose culture they may not yet fully comprehend.

As I said in another post, “The idea of tango is to welcome another person into your personal space, to accept that person, to surrender, to let go your ego, to listen to the inner voice and feelings of that person, to be considerate, cooperative, yielding and adaptive, to enjoy the intimacy, to be one with that person, and to give comfort, pleasure and love. It is a different idea from what our culture stands for, that is, individualism, independence, self-interests and aggression.” (The Art of Love) Contrary to what the author thinks, the surrender in tango is mutual. It is in surrender that we stop to compete and start to adapt. Tango becomes popular in the modern world because it has the power to sublimate people. It completes us by allowing us to be one with each other in an intimate relationship void of judgmental criticisms of the last century. Tango is the opposite of hypocrisy. In tango we become better, healthier, more natural and cohesive men and women. Those who prefer political correctness to decent humanity, gender neutralization to gender emancipation, power struggle to love, separation to cohesion, distance to intimacy, egoism to humility, and individuality to partnership live in the shadow of the past. They are evolving at a different pace from that of Latin America, and not in the same direction as the author thought. They certainly do not represent the future of tango.

探戈是怎样带领的

传统的带领理论是驱驶理论。根据这一理论男人在探戈中带领女人就如同把婴儿抱在怀中摇她入睡。这一理论反映了探戈故乡阿根廷的男权文化。男人拥抱女人，用他的胳膊环绕女人的身体。女人安居于他怀中，依在他身上，胸部亲密地贴在他的胸口。她不需要思考，计划，或率先迈步，只需委身于他，靠在他怀里而任其驱驶。由于两人身体连在一起，男人很容易驱驶女人。他可以用他的身体轻轻推动她，或转动身体，使她跟着一起转动，或用他的身体将她的身体倾斜，直至她迈步，或向一侧转身并移动，使她跟着向该侧跨步，或用他的身体摆动她的身体，使她的腿跟着摆动，形成步子，或增加惯性，使她的身体在脚着地后由惯性带动而偏离重心，导致另一只脚着地，等等。驱驶的方法多为感觉型的舞者所使用。这些舞者喜欢拥抱中舞伴之间亲密的身体接触和两人身体在一起有节奏地与音乐同步运动的感觉。对于他们来说，探戈是同步运动。“跟随”是个不正确的概念，因为它意味着分离和耽延。决定一个好的领舞者的是他用自己的身体去影响跟舞者的身体运动的能力。决定一个好的跟舞者的是她让自己的运动与领舞者的运动保持同步的能力，以达到一致，一体，和谐，同时。人们需要知道步子才能跳探戈，但步子是为了方便拥抱，使两个人能舞动得象一个人一样。感觉型的舞者使用简单的步子来避免干扰。他们专注于音乐，拥抱，交流，同步，和感觉。这个理论是老舞棍式探戈的基础。

另一种理论是标志理论。这一理论把带领定义为标志或信号。标志可以是在对方的身侧一按，腿上一碰，手上一推，背上一压，掌中一捏，姿态的某种变化，或类似的任何组合。它是领舞者告诉跟随者他要她如何移动的秘密信号。“掌握探戈是掌握信号的制作。”（《探戈，爱的艺术史》，罗伯特·法里斯·汤普森著）这种方法的问题是缺乏标准化。每个领舞者都以个人方式来标志舞步。除非熟悉他的信号，跟随者将很难跟从。因为个性化和模糊性的特点，这种方法尚未有清楚的定义。尽管如此，它对探戈的发展产生了显著的影响。用标志或信号来带领使得跟随者有必要对其进行诠释。领舞者不得不迁就她的主观解释。这改变了探戈的跳法。这一理论与采用松散拥抱而较多以手带领的Villa Urquiza式探戈有关。

在欧洲和北美，由于受个人主义，女权主义和“政治上正确”的文化影响，占主导地位的理论是“邀请”理论。根据这一理论，领舞者发送给跟舞者的不是驱动，而是一个建议或邀请。提建议的男士需要等待女士首先迈步，然后跟随她。其顺序好象这样：“领舞者‘邀请'女士进入房间。她接受邀请，并在她自己选定的时间进入，他然后跟随她。从某种意义上说，领舞者变成了跟随者。”（《对探戈的激情》，大卫·特纳著）这一理论离开了传统的探戈理论。它适合那些喜欢使用开式拥抱的运动型舞者，以便发挥更多的个性。没有直接的身体接触，领舞者胸部发出的驱动变得不那么直接和肯定，因而在很大程度上取决于跟随者对怎样，何时，或是否接受他的“邀请”所做的选择。领舞者必须等待，并顺应跟舞者的选择。结果，性别角色交换了，动作胜过了感觉，个人表演取代了同步运动，而探戈也变成了“新式”探戈。

How Tango Is Led

The traditional theory on how tango is led is the driving theory, according to which the man drives the woman in much the same way he carries a baby in his arms and sways her to dream. This theory reflects the macho culture of Argentina where tango was born. The man embraces the woman with his arm encircles her body. The woman settles into his embrace, leans on his torso, with her chest intimately touches his. She doesn’t need to think, plan and initiate the movement. She simply surrenders herself, rests in his arms, and lets him drive her. With the torso-to-torso connection the man can easily actuate the woman. He can use his torso to gently propel her, or turn his torso to make her turn with him, or use his torso to tilt her until she makes a step, or make her step on his side by twirling and moving his torso to one side, or swing her torso, which will bring along the swing of her leg to form a step, or increase the momentum that, after her leg lands on the floor, will carry her body pass over the center of gravity and lead to the next step, etc. The driving method is used by the feeling-oriented dancers who incline to the feeling of the embrace, the intimate torso-to-torso contact between the partners, and the rhythmic motion of the two bodies moving together in sync to the music. For them, tango is synchronization. The word “follow” is an incorrect notion because it implies separation and delay. What makes a good leader is his ability to use his body to effect the movement of the follower. What makes a good follower is her ability to synchronize her movement to his, so that unity, oneness, harmony and synchronism can be achieved. One needs to know the steps to dance tango, but the purpose of steps is to facilitate the embrace so that the two may remain one in motion. The feeling-oriented dancers use simple steps to avoid distractions. They concentrate on the music, embrace, communication, synchronization and feeling. This theory is the foundation of the milonguero style of tango.

Another theory is the la marca theory, which defines the lead as a mark or signal. The mark can be a tapping on her side, a touch on her thigh, a push in her hand, a press on her back, a tickle in her palm, a body posturing, or any combination of such. It is a secret code used by the leader to tell the follower how he wants her to move. “Mastering tango is mastering the making of signals.” (Tango, the Art History of Love, by Robert Farris Thompson.) The problem of this method, however, is the lack of standardization. Each leader marks the steps in his personal way. Without learning his set of signals, the woman would have difficulties to follow his marks. Due to the private and ambiguous nature, this method remains indefinable. Nevertheless, it has a significant impact on the development of tango. Using mark to lead makes it necessary for the follower to interpret it. The leader then has to adapt to her subjectivity. This changes how tango is danced. The Villa Urquiza style danced in a loose embrace and hence relying more on the hands to lead, is associated with this theory.

The theory dominating Europe and North America is the invitation theory, influenced by their individualist, feminist and politically correct culture. According to this theory, what the leader sends to the follower is not a drive but a suggestion or invitation. The gentleman who has given the suggestion needs to wait for the lady to initiate her movement, and then follow her. The sequence is like this: “The leader ‘invites’ the lady to enter a room. She accepts the invitation and, in her own time, enters, and he then follows. In a sense, therefore, the leader has become the follower.” (A Passion for Tango, by David Turner.) This theory breaks away from the traditional tango. It suits the movement-oriented dancers who prefer to dance in an open embrace that allows more individuality. Without the torso-to-torso contact, the drive, which comes from the leader’s torso, becomes less direct and assertive, and hence depends to a large degree on the follower’s choice of how, when, and whether to accept the “invitation.” The leader has to wait and adapt to her choice. As a result, gender roles reverse, movement triumphs over feeling, fanciness supersedes simplicity, individual performance replaces synchronization, and tango becomes tango Nuevo.

探哥是一种感觉

舞步只是用来表达感情的工具，正如词语是用以表达思想的工具。探戈不是舞步，而是对感情的表达。正如有人著名地说过的那样，“探戈是一种舞出来的感觉。”感觉是很难定义的，它可以是从心情，感受，情绪，梦想，激情，欣快到灵感的任何东西。简单地说，我们在探戈中感受到的是一种心境。虽然它难以言表，但在这心境中我们变得最活跃，最有创意，最雄辩，也最满足。如何进入这种心境是一个谜。它不能靠意志或努力达到。它不会每时每刻发生。当我们刻意寻找它时却找不到。但每个人都曾经验过它。我们沉迷于探戈主要因为我们都有过这样的感觉。

探戈能把我们带进这种感觉可能跟音乐有关。好的音乐是跳舞跳得尽兴的必要条件。它是将我们的潜力（创造力，想象力，能力，流畅性等）充分发挥出来不可或缺的激素。好的探戈音乐具有清晰的节奏和丰富的感情，不仅优美而适于跳舞，而且能制造气氛，激发情绪，提高士气，产生灵感，把我们带进那种心境。当我们记得一个音乐迷人，士气高昂的舞会，我们所记的是那种感觉，而不是步子。

当然，那种感觉不是单靠音乐产生的，拥抱也起着重要的作用。探戈之所以与众不同是因为拥抱。探戈的拥抱不象新手认为的那样只是一个框架或相互搀扶。它是使两人合为一体的连接，是沟通两颗心的交流，是抚慰灵魂的柔情，亲昵和舒适。它能满足深藏在人性中的需要，給我们一种相归属，相依连，相成全的感觉。它将我们带回到最早的记忆，我们儿时的摇篮，母亲乳房的滋养和慰籍，父亲怀抱的支持和保护，家庭的安全与温暖。探戈反映我们对“家”的向往。它提醒我们，不是当我们独自一人，而是当我们在一起时，我们才是最好的。最终，我们是在彼此中找到自己的“家”，因为我们属于彼此，需要彼此，成全彼此。我们跳探戈是为了与对方成为一体，从而使自己完整。没有拥抱，探戈就不是探戈，而只是一个普通的舞蹈了。

如果拥抱如此重要，那么舞伴也一样。同一个不会拥抱的舞伴跳舞是找不到感觉的。只重视步子的探戈教学法培养出来的正是这样不专业的舞者，他们回避拥抱，向后仰身，将自己与舞伴分开，把着舞伴就如同把着台购物车，在跳舞时不投入感情。这样的人完全不理解跳探戈是怎么回事。跳探戈就象是将婴儿小心翼翼地抱在怀里，哼着摇篮曲摇他/她入睡；或安息在父母怀中，听着赞美歌，被轻轻摇入梦乡。探戈是我们在舞蹈中体验到并与舞伴分享的那种温馨，安全，舒适，和亲密的感觉。的确，探戈优美的音乐，舒适的拥抱和节奏性的摆动有一种催眠作用，使我们深深坠入冥想或梦境，其感觉是如此惬意，以至于舞曲结束时我们仍不愿醒来。人们需要知道步子才能跳探戈，但步子的目的是为了方便拥抱，让两人得以在运动中保持一体。探戈就好象现实生活中的伴侣关系，虽然面临各种挑战，但两人团结一致，紧密相连，互相支持，不可分割。它需要爱心，信任，和委身。如果你能从这个角度看探戈，我向你保证，你会体验一种完全不同的舞蹈，浪漫，感性，梦幻，诗意，并难以置信的令人满足。

Tango Is a Feeling

Steps are tools used to dance feelings, just like words are tools used to convey thoughts. Tango is not found in the steps, but in the heart. As someone famously put it, “Tango is a feeling that is danced.” It is difficult to define feeling, which could be anything from emotion, sentiment, mood, dream, excitation, euphoria, to duende. Simply put, what we experience in tango is a state of mind. As ineffable as it is, we are most exuberant, creative, eloquent, and satisfied when we are in that state of mind. How this state of mind comes into being is a mystery. It may not come by will or effort. It may not come always. It may not come at all even when we try hard to find it. But everyone has experienced it at some point. We are addicted to tango mainly because we have experienced that feeling.

The reason tango can lead us to that feeling may have something to do with the music. Good music is essential to a fulfilled tango experience. It is an inspiration indispensable for bringing our potentials (originality, imagination, ability, and fluency) into full play. Good music, marked by a clear rhythm and rich sentiment, is not only beautiful and easy to dance to; it also generates a mood, stirs up emotions, lifts the spirit, inspires creativity, and leads us to that state of mind. When we remember a milonga where the music is enchanting and morale is high, what we remember is the feeling and not the steps.

The feeling, of course, is not generated by music alone. The embrace also plays an important role. Tango is unique because of its embrace. Unlike what novices may think, tango embrace is not just a frame or hold. It is the connection that makes us one, the communication that links up our hearts, the tenderness, intimacy and comfort that satisfy our soul. It serves the needs that lie deeply in our humanity, giving us a sense of belonging, connection and completion. It takes us back to our earliest memories, to the cradle of our infancy, the nourishment and comfort of our mother’s chest, the support and protection of our father’s arms, and the warmth and safety of our home. Tango reflects our longing for “home.” It reminds us that we are better not when we are alone, but when we are together. In the end, we find home in each other, because we belong to, need, and complete each other. We dance to be one with each other, thus make ourselves whole. Without the embrace, tango is not tango but another ordinary dance.

If the embrace is important, so is the partner. We cannot find the feeling dancing tango with a partner who doesn’t know how to embrace. The problem of a tango pedagogy focusing on steps is that it produces just such amateurs. They shy away from the embrace, lean backward, detach themselves from their partner, grab their partner like a shopping cart, and are not emotionally engaged. Such people completely miss the point of dancing tango. Dancing tango is like holding a baby tenderly in your arms, singing a lullaby, and swaying him/her to sleep; or resting safely in your parent’s arms, listening to the hymn, and being swayed to dream. Tango is the warm, safe, comfy, and intimate feeling that we experience and share with our partner in the dance. Indeed, the beautiful music, comfortable embrace and rhythmic motion of tango have a hypnotic effect, causing us fall deeply into a state of meditation or dreaming, so heavenly that we don’t want to wake up when the tanda ends. One needs to know the steps to dance tango, but the whole point of steps is to facilitate the embrace so that we may remain one in motion. Tango resembles the relationship in real life where we face all kinds of challenges but keep on united, connected, supportive and inseparable. It requires love, trust, and surrender. If you see tango from this perspective, I guarantee you that you will experience a totally different dance—romantic, sensual, dreamy, poetic, soulful, and incredibly satisfying.

探戈的风格样式

人们用许多名称来描述探戈的不同风格样式，例如老舞棍式探戈，斜靠式探戈，Villa Urquiza式探戈，市中心式探戈，社区式探戈，闭式探戈，开式探戈，舞厅探戈，花式探戈，表演探戈，舞台探戈，新式探戈，等。

造成不同风格样式的根本原因在于人的心理倾向。感觉型的人注重个人体验和内在感受。运动型的人注重动作和外观。感觉型的舞者，其中很多都是老舞棍，创造了老舞棍式探戈。这种样式是用贴身(闭式)拥抱跳的，其中舞者彼此略微斜靠在对方身上，使用简单而紧凑的步子。这些舞者经常在位于布宜诺斯艾利斯市中心比较拥挤的俱乐部里跳舞，所以又叫做市中心式探戈。老舞棍式是以拥抱为特征的。

运动型的舞者，其中也有不少是老舞棍，创造了Villa Urquiza式探戈。这种样式是用直立的姿势和松散的拥抱来跳的。它的步子优美，并使用较多的停顿和点缀。这些舞者喜欢在不太拥挤的社区俱乐部里跳舞，例如Villa Urquiza区的Sin Rumbo俱乐部，所以又叫做社区式探戈。Villa Urquiza式是以步法为特征的。

老舞棍式和Villa Urquiza式被公认为舞厅探戈，或社交探戈。社交探戈是一个松散的总称，泛到能容纳不同的风格样式，窄到不允许反社交行为。社交舞者可以是感觉型的或运动型的，但他们都在俱乐部跳舞并遵守舞会规则。

二十世纪三十年代中期到五十年代中期，社交探戈成为布宜诺斯艾利斯的主导文化。在一九四零到一九五零年间，有二十三个比他们的Villa Urquiza同僚更加运动型的舞者，定期聚集在纳尔逊俱乐部研究新步法。他们创造了一个称为花式探戈的新样式。这种样式使用开式拥抱，以花哨的套路和炫耀的步法使探戈戏剧化，并以使用编导排练和不受舞会规则约束把自己同社交探戈区别开来。其主要目的是作秀，因此又叫做作秀探戈，表演探戈，或舞台探戈。

阿根廷从一九五五年到一九八三年是由一系列军事政变集团统治的。几届军政府的政策都不鼓励社交探戈。宵禁被强制执行，人们经常被检查他们的警方记录。许多与以前的庇隆政权有牵连的人都遭逮捕或干脆消失了。结果，人们不再跳社交舞，探戈也转入地下。社交探戈在这一时期的空白给花式探戈一个占领舞台的机会。当军人政治于一九八三年结束以后，是这种样式领导了探戈的复兴。

从花式探戈，一些运动型的舞者进一步创造了所谓新式探戈。这是一种把探戈和非探戈元素，如另类音乐及新奇步法之类，搅合在一起的杂交舞。新式探戈不仅把自己同社交探戈，也同探戈完全分离开来。如果探戈沿那个方向发展，它将不再是原来意义上的探戈，正如我们在所谓的另类舞会上已经看到的那样。

The Styles of Tango

Many terms are used to describe different styles of tango, such as tango milonguero, tango apilado,tango Villa Urquiza, estilo del centro, estilo del barrio, tango de salon, tango fantasia, close embrace tango, open embrace tango, performance tango, stage tango, tango Nuevo, etc. 

The fundamental cause of stylistic differences lies in human psychologies. People who are feeling-oriented incline to personal experience and inward feelings. People who are movement-oriented incline to steps and outward look. The feeling-oriented dancers, of whom many are milongueros, have developed the milonguero style, which is danced in a close embrace with slight leaning (apilado) against each other, using simple and compact steps. These dancers often dance at the clubs in downtown Buenos Aires where the floors are crowded—hence the term estilo del centro, or downtown style. Milonguero style features the embrace.

The movement-oriented dancers, of whom many also are milongueros, have developed the Villa Urquiza style, which is danced in a loose embrace with an upright posture, using stylish steps, more pauses and adornments. These dancers like to dance at the neighborhood clubs, such as Sin Rumbo in Villa Urquiza, where the floors are less crowded—hence the term estilo del barrio, or neighborhood style. Villa Urquiza style features the footwork.

Milonguero style and Villa Urquiza style are commonly recognized as tango de salon, or social tango. Social tango is a loose term broad enough to include stylistic differences and narrow enough to exclude anti-social behaviors. Social dancers may be feeling-oriented or movement-oriented, but they all dance at the clubs and abide by the milonga codes.

Social tango dominated the culture of Buenos Aires from mid 1930s to mid 1950s. From 1940 to 1950, twenty-three dancers, who were more movement-oriented than their Villa Urquiza colleagues, met regularly at the Club Nelson to work on new steps, and they gave birth to a new style know as tango fantasia. Danced in open embrace, tango fantasia dramatized tango with showy figures and fancy footwork, and separated itself from social tango by using choreography and not conforming to milonga codes. The main purpose of this style is to perform on the stage; therefore, it is known as show tango, performance tango, or stage tango.

From 1955 to 1983 Argentina was ruled by a succession of military juntas whose policies discouraged social tango. Curfews were enforced and people were routinely checked for their police records. Many were arrested or simply disappeared for aligning with the previous Peronist regime. As a result, people stopped dancing socially, and tango went underground. The absence of social tango during that period gave tango fantasia an opportunity to take the stage. When the military rule ended in 1983, it was this style that led the revival of tango.

From tango fantasia, some movement-oriented dancers went further to create tango Nuevo, a hybrid style combining tango and non-tango elements, such as exotic music and eccentric steps. Tango Nuevo not only separates itself from social tango, but from tango entirely. If tango moves in that direction, it will cease to be tango as it was created for, as it already is the case in so-called alternative milongas.

爱的艺术

探戈中最重要的规则之一是不责备，批评或指教你的舞伴。老舞棍们严格遵循这个规则，因为他们知道后果。最近，我的两个学生大吵了一架。起初也许是出于好心，她对他的带领提了点意见。他为自己辩解，并对她的跟随说了些什么。结果对话升级成了侮辱，并以两颗心的破碎而告终。他们也许不会再与对方跳舞了。

学习探戈就象学习语言，而且需要差不多长的时间。任何学探戈不到五年的人都算是新手，而新手是最沮丧恼怒的人。他们想跳好，但不知道怎么跳。有许多东西他们都不知道，包括规则和礼仪。每个新手都有许多毛病，而且都对别人有看法。有经验的舞者不与他们跳舞。所以他们只能自己一块儿跳，并为各自的毛病互相指责。五十步笑百步的讽刺是同类相讥。当一个人指责对方僵硬时，对方可能也在这样想。等他们学会了步子，感情也伤害了，关系也破裂了。

初学者往往没有意识到，不管你喜欢与否，跟你在一起学探戈的人是你探戈生涯中最重要的人。在很长一段时间内你可能都会与他们跳舞。每个社区中跳探戈的人是有限的。这些人是被命运召到一起来的。大家最好彼此接受对方，并给对方提高的时间。在现实生活中，如果你喜欢一个人，你对她说她很美丽。如果你说她是丑陋的，她不会跟你出去。若想与别人跳舞，你也得做同样的事。即使你被要求说实话也总是赞美一个人的舞蹈。有多少丈夫在说了实话后被妻子踢下床去的？记住，探戈不只是一个舞蹈。它是一种人际关系。它是爱的艺术。

耶鲁大学艺术史教授罗伯特·法里斯·汤普森在他的著作《探戈，爱的艺术史》中说：探戈“是教世界学会爱的舞蹈。”探戈的精髓是欢迎别人进入你的个人空间，接受那个人，向他委身，放弃你的自我，倾听那人内心的声音和感受，做个体贴，合作，谦让，顺应的人，享受两人间的亲密，与他/她合而为一，并给他/她以安慰，快乐和爱。这与我们的文化所代表的观念，即个人主义，独立性，自我利益，敌对好斗，是不同的。学习探戈是学习如何适应别人，不是要别人适应你。我希望探戈能使我们成为更好的人，用尊重，欣赏和关爱对待别人，接受别人如其所是，并把别人，而不是自己，当作生活和舞蹈的中心。在没有做到这些之前，我们没有足够的资格做探戈舞者，而且也跳不好探戈。

The Art of Love

One of the most important rules in tango is not to blame, criticize or teach your dance partner. Milongueros follow this code strictly because they know the consequence. Recently, two of my students had a big fight. It started out of perhaps a very good intention to help. She said something about his leading. He defended himself and said something about her following. The conversation escalated to insults and ended up with two broken hearts. They perhaps will not dance with each other again.

Learning tango is like learning a language and it takes about as long. Anyone less than five years in tango is a novice. Novices are the most frustrated people. They want to dance well but don’t know how. There are so many things they don’t know, including rules and manners. Each of them has loads of problems, and they all have opinions on each other. Experienced dancers don’t dance with them. So they stick together and blame each other for their own problems. The irony of “the pot calls the kettle black” is that they are two of a kind. When one blames the other for being stiff, the other is likely thinking the same. By the time they have learned the steps, feelings are hurt and relationships broken.

Beginners often don’t realize that, whether you like it or not, the people who are learning tango with you are the most important people in your tango life. You will likely dance with them for a long time. There are only limited people in each tango community. These are the people called together by fate. It’s better to accept each other and give each other time to improve. In real life, if you like someone you tell her how beautiful she is. If you say she is ugly, she will not go out with you. You do the same thing in tango if you want to dance with someone. Always say good things about one’s dance even if you are asked for an honest opinion. How many husbands are kicked out of bed after giving their wives their honest opinion?  Remember, tango is not just a dance. It is a relationship. It is the art of love.

Robert Farris Thompson, professor of the History of Art at Yale University, said in his book, Tango, the Art History of Love, that tango “is the dance that teaches the world to love.” The idea of tango is to welcome another person into your personal space, to accept that person, to surrender, to let go your ego, to listen to the inner voice and feelings of that person, to be considerate, cooperative, yielding and adaptive, to enjoy the intimacy, to be one with that person, and to give comfort, pleasure and love. It is a different idea from what our culture stands for, that is, individualism, independence, self-interests and aggression. Learning tango is learning to accommodate yourself to others, not asking others to adapt to you. Hopefully, tango will make us a better people who treat others with respect, appreciation and attentiveness, accept them as who they are, and put them, instead of oneself, at the center of one’s life and dance. Until then, we are not qualified as tango dancers, and cannot dance well anyway.

探戈：历史和文化的影响

布宜诺斯艾利斯是世界上最大的都市之一。阿根廷四千五百万人口中，近三分之二生活在布宜诺斯艾利斯。该城市是由欧洲移民建造的。在十九世纪初，布宜诺斯艾利斯是一个西班牙裔和土著南美人混居的小镇，彼此往往通婚。西班牙人把大量的非洲奴隶连同他们的音乐舞蹈带进阿根廷。在十九世纪的下半世纪中，阿根廷政府决定缩减黑人人口而扩大白人人口，导致大量欧洲移民从西班牙，意大利和欧洲各地迁移至阿根廷。到十九世纪末，布宜诺斯艾利斯的原始人口已经完全被欧洲移民所淹没。我们可以追溯探戈到其受非洲舞蹈影响的雏形首次出现的一百五十年以前，但探戈的主要创造者是十九世纪末和二十世纪初建造布宜诺斯艾利斯的欧洲移民。

探戈是由移民创造的事实有着重要的意义。远离家乡且男女不成比例，移民是最寂寞，思乡，怀旧的人。他们来舞会跳舞是要跳出他们的孤独，想家，感伤和痛苦，是要找个可以依靠的肩膀，是要满足他们对爱的渴望，是要触摸异性和被异性所触摸。探戈是他们的避难所。探戈的亲密，深情，性感和抚慰的性质反映出并能满足他们内心深处的人的需要。这就是探戈是由两个人用胸贴胸脸靠脸的亲密拥抱来跳的原因。他们通过身体接触来沟通他们内心的感情，感受和对音乐的诠释。象舞蹈一样，探戈音乐也是为表达深沉的感情谱写的。它的节奏明快有力，适合于舞蹈，而它的旋律是柔顺，流畅而感伤的。每一个音符或乐句都表达一种男性的强壮，果敢和成稳，或女性的缠绵，顺从和多愁善感。这两种情绪互相交织，彼此回应，映照着正在跳舞的男人和女人。

探戈在二十世纪三十年代到五十年代之间达到成熟阶段，并成为布宜诺斯艾利斯的主导文化。这一时期被称为探戈的黄金时代。紧接着黄金时代的是近三十年的黑暗时期，其间探戈销声匿迹了。一九五五的军事政变推翻了民选总统胡安·多明戈·庇隆。庇隆曾积极支持探戈。反庇隆的军政府怀疑探戈舞众与庇隆站在一条线上，就制造了一种压制探戈的气候。大多数人都不再跳舞，音乐家也停止为舞会演奏。那个时期的音乐主要是为听众而不是为舞众制作的。探戈的复兴是从二十世纪八十年代中期民主在阿根廷恢复以后开始的。从那以后，探戈在全世界范围内得到推广。现在，几乎世界上的每一个国家和欧洲北美的每一个城市都跳探戈。

一个英国广播公司（BBC）的评论员说，“探戈隐藏着一个关于男人和女人互相向往的秘密。”在许多文化中，异性之间的亲密被视为性关系，因此受到自觉或不自觉的压抑。男人和女人不能彼此亲密，除非他们想做爱。换句话说，那些文化不认可男女之间非性的亲密关系。但阿根廷探戈却代表着一种不同的看法或文化，该文化承认并允许男女之间纯洁的亲昵。阿根廷人民是充满激情和非常亲密的人民，而探戈是其文化的产物。探戈的胜利，说到底，是其观念的胜利，这种观念认为男女之间纯洁非性的亲密是正当，健康和美丽的。

但是，这观念的胜利并不是没有代价的。黄金时代以后，许多事情改变了。探戈的传统被中止了近三十年。欧洲移民早已定居下来。男女平衡已经恢复。许多老舞者已经去世。整个年轻一代不知道怎么跳探戈。黑暗时代幸存下来的只有舞台探戈。结果，探戈的复兴是由一批舞台演员带领的。他们带着他们的节目，Tango Argentino，到欧洲和北美巡回演出，并在那里燃起了一股学习他们那种风格的探戈，Tango Fantasia（花式探戈）的热情。

花式探戈不同于黄金时代所跳的探戈。黄金时代的探戈叫作 Tango de Salon，或社交探戈。它是一种大众舞，适合普通百姓的口味，需求和能力。它是在拥挤的舞会上为取乐而不是为作秀跳的，并且受舞会规则的制约。这是一种亲密和感觉导向的即兴舞蹈，一般是用贴身拥抱跳的，舞伴之间有相当密切的身体接触。其步子简单而紧凑，所以舞者能专注于由音乐激起的感受，舒适而感性的拥抱，两人之间通过身体接触所进行的交流，以及与音乐同步的和谐运动。跳社交探戈舞是一种亲切，深情和个人的经验。要紧的是感觉如何，而不是看起来如何。

花式探戈，或表演探戈，则是为舞台表演设计的。这是一种精英舞，涉及相当有难度的舞步和技巧，适合经过特殊训练的专业舞蹈演员而不适合普通百姓。这是一种花哨的，动作导向的，和经过编排的舞蹈，通常使用开式拥抱以增加运动的可能性。其步子动作幅度大，华丽，眩目，危险，而且占用很大的空间。它不是为了给舞者一种亲切深情的个人感受，而是为了用炫耀的动作取悦观众。安全，舒适和简易并不为其所关注。它既不受舞会规则的约束，也不适合拥挤的舞会。要紧的是它看起来如何，而不是感觉如何。

由于缺乏相同的历史和文化背景，欧洲人和美国人对花式探戈比对社交探戈表现出更大的兴趣。他们没有突然爆炸的移民人口拥挤在一个大都市里。他们没有严重的女性短缺问题。他们的舞会不是那么拥挤。他们的文化不许可男女之间纯洁的亲密关系。开式拥抱更符合他们的口味。更重要的是，他们的老师是来自阿根廷的舞台演员。不久，花式探戈就在欧洲和北美成为一种时尚。

尽管如此，外国人对探戈的热情却重新点燃了阿根廷人对自己传统舞蹈的骄傲与激情。舞会重新开张。布宜诺斯艾利斯的居民又返回舞池。探戈沙龙再次爆满。探戈音乐，探戈时装和探戈旅游业蓬勃发展。布宜诺斯艾利斯再次成为探戈的圣地，来自世界各地的舞者都来这里与当地人跳探戈舞。但外国人很快就发现，他们在家里所学的探戈与布宜诺斯艾利斯舞会上所跳的探戈是不一样的。

尝到了布宜诺斯艾利斯的贴身拥抱探戈耐人寻味的滋味，大多数游客不想再返回开式拥抱。他们中有些人决定留下来长住，其他的则回国传播消息。他们的人数随着越来越多的人来布宜诺斯艾利斯与当地人跳舞而逐年增加。趋势在欧洲和北美开始由开式探戈转向贴身探戈。虽然贴身探戈可能还需要多年才能在那里安顿下来并成为主导风格，但我相信那迟早会发生。探戈是为满足人的一种需要而创造的。它的形式必须与它的目的相符合。表面与时尚的东西会改变，但内在和实质性的东西将留存。随着越来越多的人品尝到贴身探戈的魅力，随着舞会变得越来越拥挤，人们不但会想要用贴身拥抱来跳探戈，而且别无选择。最终，属于舞台的舞蹈和属于舞会的舞蹈终将再次分道扬镳。

Tango: Historical and Cultural Impacts

Buenos Aires is one of the largest metropolises in the world. Two thirds of Argentina’s 45 million people live in Buenos Aires. The city was built by the European immigrants. At the beginning of the 19th century, Buenos Aires was a small town with a mixed population of Spanish and Native Americans, often intermarried. The Spanish brought in slaves in large number with their music and dance from Africa. During the second half of the 19th century, the Argentine government made a conscious decision to reduce the black population and expand the white population, which led to the massive immigrations from Span, Italy, and other parts of Europe to Argentina. By the end of the 19th century the original population of Buenos Aires has been completely swamped by the European immigrants. We can trace tango to 150 years ago to its African origin from which the primitive form of the dance first appeared, but the main creators of tango were European immigrants of the late 19th century and early 20th century who built the city of Buenos Aires.

The fact that tango was created by the immigrants is significant. Far away from home, disproportional in gender, the immigrants were the most lonely, homesick and nostalgic people. They came to the milonga to dance the loneliness, homesickness, nostalgia and grief in them, to find a shoulder to rely on, to quench their thirst for love, and to touch and be touched by another human being of the opposite sex. Tango is their refuge. The intimate, soulful, sensual, and comforting nature of tango reflects and serves their deep, inward, human needs. That’s why tango is danced in a close embrace in which the two partners intimately lean into each other, chest against chest and cheek touches cheek. They communicate through their bodies their feelings, emotions, sentiments, and interpretations of the music. Like the dance itself, tango music is created to express deep emotions. Its rhythm is crisp, forceful and easy to dance to, but its melody is supple, fluid and sentimental. Every note or phrase is played with a “masculine” effect— strong, sharp and steady, or a “feminine” effect—lingering, submissive and emotional. The two moods intertwine and respond to each other, reflecting the man and woman in the dance.

Tango reached maturity and dominated the culture of Buenos Aires between 1930s and 1950s. This period is known as tango’s Golden Age. That was followed by almost thirty years of the Dark Age during which tango disappeared. In 1955 a military coup ousted Juan Domingo Peron, the democratically elected president. Peron had actively supported tango. The dancers aligned with him were suspicious to the anti-Peronist juntas, who created a climate that discouraged tango. Most people stopped dancing, and musicians stopped playing for the dance floor. The music produced in that period is largely for listeners and not dancers. The renaissance of tango started in the mid 1980s after the restoration of democracy in Argentina. Since then tango has gained worldwide popularity, and is now danced in almost every country in the world and almost every city in Europe and North America.

As one BBC commentator said, “Tango contains a secret about the yearning between men and women.” In many cultures, intimacy between the opposite sexes is deemed sexual, and therefore is repressed voluntarily or involuntarily. Men and women cannot be intimate unless they want to have sex. In other words, such cultures do not approve non-sexual intimacy between men and women. But Argentine tango represents a different view, or culture, that recognizes and sanctions innocent intimacy. The Argentines are a passionate and intimate people. Tango is a product of that culture. The triumph of tango, after all, is the triumph of its idea, which regards nonsexual intimacy as decent, healthy and beautiful. 

But, the triumph of that idea does not come without a cost. Many things have changed since the Golden Age. The tradition has been suspended for almost thirty years. The immigrants have settled down. The gender balance has regained. Many old dancers have died. The entire young generation did not know how to dance tango. The only little tango survived the Dark Age was the stage tango. As a result, the revival of tango was led by a group of stage dancers, who brought their show, Tango Argentino, to Europe and North America, where they ignited an enthusiasm for learning their style of tango—Tango Fantasia, which is different from the tango danced in the Golden Age.

The tango danced in the Golden Age is Tango de Salon, or social tango. It is a popular dance suited to the tastes, needs and abilities of ordinary people. It is danced on a crowded dance floor for pleasure and not for show, and is administered by the milonga codes. It is an intimate, feeling-oriented and improvised dance typically danced in a close embrace with considerable body contact between the partners. Its steps are simple and compact, so the dancers may concentrate on the feelings stirred by the music, the comfort and sensation of the embrace, the communication through torso contact between them, and the harmony of movements in unison with the music. Dancing Tango de Salon is an intimate, soulful and personal experience. What matters is how it feels and not how it looks.

Tango Fantasia, or show tango, on the other hand, is designed for performing on the stage. It is a highbrow dance involving difficult steps and techniques not suited to ordinary people, but professionals with expert skills. It is a fancy, movement-oriented and choreographed dance, typically danced in an open embrace for broader movement possibilities. Its steps are wide, flashy, dazzling, often dangerous and requiring a lot of space to do. It is not intended to be an intimate, soulful and personal experience, but an exhibition of showy figures to impress the audience. Safety, comfort and user-friendliness are not its concern. It does not abide by the milonga codes and is not suited to a crowded dance floor. What matters is how it looks and not how it feels.

Without the same historical and cultural background, the Europeans and Americans are more interested in Tango Fantasia than Tango de Salon. They do not have a sudden explosion of immigrant population crowding together in one big city. They do not have a severe shortage of women. Their dance floors are much less crowded. Their cultures do not sanction innocent intimacy. The open-embrace style meets their taste. And, above all, their teachers are the stage dancers from Argentina. Before long, Tango Fantasia becomes a fashion in Europe and North America.

Despite this, the tango fervor abroad rekindled the pride and passion of the Argentineans for their traditional dance. Milongas are reopened. Portenos return to the dance floor. Tango salons are packed again. Tango music, tango fashion and tango tourism flourish. Buenos Aires again becomes the Mecca of tango, where dancers from all over the world come to dance tango with the locals. But foreigners quickly discovered that the tango they learned at home is not the same tango danced in the milongas of Buenos Aires.

Having tasted the intriguing close-embrace tango of Buenos Aires, most visitors don’t want to go back to the open-embrace style. Some of them decide to stay for good. Others return home to spread the message. Their number increases each year as more and more people come to Buenos Aires to dance tango with the locals. Trend starts to shift from open embrace to close embrace in Europe and North America. It may still take years for the close-embrace tango to settle down and become the dominate style there, but that will inevitably happen, I believe. Tango is created to serve a human need. Its form must meet its purpose. What is external and fashionable may change, but what is internal and essential endures. As more and more people savor the charm of close embrace tango, as milongas become increasingly crowded, people will want to, and have no choice but dance in close embrace. Eventually, what belongs to the stage will separate from what belongs to the dance floor, again.

上下身分离与齿轮效应

女人必须站在脚掌前端才能象针尖点地一样容易转动。但她不是转动整个身体，而只转动腰部以下的半身。腰就象连接上身和下身的旋转接头。因为她的上身靠在面前的男人身上，她只有转动她的下身，使其面对不同的方向，才能让腿绕着他迈步。这被称为“上下身分离”。

有经验的跟随者知道，她的上身稍微被领舞者一拧转，就表示而且必须导致她的下身立刻有个大转动。男人把她的躯干稍微拧向他想要她移动的方向，这只是一个信号。在接收到信号时，她需要转动她的臀部，直到它与上身成九十度。在这种扭曲的状态下，她能够在上身靠在男人身上的同时向他的侧边迈步。这个技巧适合女人柔软的身体并能突出她的女性美，因为她的臀部交替从一侧转到另一侧，而她的胸部却始终面对着领舞者。

运用上下身分离的一个典型舞步是“8”字步，其中男人带领她用一只脚在地上画一个“S”，然后用另一只脚在地上画另一个“S”。两个“S”是反向重叠的，所以它们看起来象个“8”。要跳“8”字步，她得把臀部转向男人的一边，用一只脚向前侧迈一步，然后把臀部转向他的另一边，用另一只脚向前侧迈另一步，最后再把臀部转回来面对他。运用上下身分离的另一个类似的舞步是后“8”字步。跳后“8”字步，她首先把臀部转向一边，用一只脚向后侧退一步，然后把臀部转向另一边，用另一只脚向后侧退另一步。运用上下身分离的第三个例子是葡萄藤步。葡萄藤步是一个“8”字步，一个侧步，一个后“8”字步，再一个侧步的环形组合。在所有这三个例子中，女人都保持胸部与男人相连，而臀部交替从一边转到另一边。

臀部的转动导致她的上身在他的怀里滚动，产生一种被称为“齿轮效应”的舒服感觉。胸部是她关注的中心。一切，包括情绪，感受，对音乐的诠释，意图和引诱，都是通过胸部来表达和交流的。女人不应该将胸脯粘在男人身上，而应该让它随着臀部的转动在男人胸前滚动。臀部每转向一边，她的胸脯也跟着滚向一边，直到其一侧与他身体的一侧接触。当臀部转向另一边时，她的胸脯也跟着滚动，直到其另一侧与他的另一侧接触。

胸脯的滚动是由臀部的转动引起的。要产生齿轮效应，跟随者得将臀部转足，直到她的胸脯跟着臀部一起滚动。她应该避免突然和生硬的转动，而使胸脯能够滚动得柔顺，舒适而有音乐感。这并非易事，需要相当的功夫才能做到。不熟悉上下身分离的初学者往往使用交叉步来代替转臀，结果其上身一直保持贴附而不滚动。探戈是一个用身体互相取悦的舞蹈。有经验的跟随者善于用自己的身体来挑逗领舞者，正如有经验的领舞者善于把跟随者的女性美充分展现出来。齿轮效应能增加舞蹈的感官享受。贴身探戈的这一特点是开式探戈所缺乏的。两种舞蹈风格截然不同，这是其中的原因之一。

Dissociation and Gear Effect

The woman must stand on the ball of the foot so that she can pivot as if on a fixed pin. But she does not pivot her whole body. She only pivots her lower body from the waist down. The waist is like the swivel that joins the upper body and the lower body. Because her upper body is connected to the man who is in front of her, she has to rotate her lower body, making it face a different direction to facilitate her movement around him. This is known as “dissociation.”

An experienced follower knows that a small twist of her torso by the leader indicates, and must result in a big swivel of her lower body. The man leads her by turning her torso slightly to the direction that he wants her to go. On receiving the signal, she needs to make a big rotation of her hips until they are perpendicular to her upper body. In this twisted position she is able to walk on the side of the man while her chest is connected to his. The technique suits the flexible body of the woman and highlights her femininity, as she alternately turns her hips side to side while her chest is permanently facing the leader.

A typical figure using dissociation is the ocho, in which the man leads her to draw an S on the floor with one foot, and then draw another S on the floor with the other foot. The two S’s are overlapped in the opposite directions so they look like the figure 8. To dance the ocho, she has to swivel her hips to one side and make a forward step with one foot, then swivel her hips to the other side and make a forward step with the other foot, and then swivel her hips back to face the man. A similar figure using this technique is the back ocho, in which she dances the ocho backward. To do so, she first swivels her hips and steps backward to one side of him with one foot, then swivels her hips and steps backward to the other side of him with the other foot. A third example using this technique is the molinete, which is a combination of the front and back ochos with a side step in between in a circular motion. In all three examples the woman keeps her chest connected to the man and rotates her hips from one side to the other alternately.

The rotation of her lower body causes her chest to roll slightly on his torso, generating a pleasant sensation known as “gear effect.” The chest is the center of her attention through which everything, including emotion, feeling, music interpretation, intention and seduction, is expressed and exchanged. The woman should not glue her chest on the man’s torso, but should let it roll side to side as she swivels her hips back and forth. At each swivel, only one side of her chest is in touch with his. As she rotates her hips to the other side, her chest rolls along until the other side touches his.

The rolling of the chest is caused by the rotation of the hips. To create the gear effect, the woman has to swivel  her lower body fully until her chest rolls along. She needs to make the rolling void of abruptness and bumpiness so it feels smooth, musical and comfortable, which is not easy and needs a lot of practice to master. A beginner who cannot do dissociation often uses crossed steps instead. Consequently, her chest remains square and does not trundle. Tango is a dance in which both partners pleasure each other with their bodies. An experienced follower knows how to use her body to seduce the leader, just as an experience leader knows how to display her feminine beauty. Gear effect increases the sensual pleasure of the dance, a feature of the close-embrace tango that is missing in the open-embrace style. It is one of the things that make the two styles fundamentally different.

探戈与整体观念（INTEGRITY）

我们跳探戈的方式反映了我们是谁。我们是一个强国。我们习惯于弱小国家听我们的，而不是我们听他们的。我们习惯于我行我素，按自己的意愿行事，而不管他人的想法和价值观。我们不顾其他国家的主权，以自由的名义发动战争，推翻我们不喜欢的政府，侵犯别人对自己的创作——如阿根廷探戈——的 权利，并按我们的意志毫无敬意地对待它。我们的政治家只维护他们所代表的特殊集团的利益而不尽其职地平衡所有人的利益。“按我说的做，否则没门！”是他们 在华盛顿及国境内外的任何地方做事的方式。我们已经失去了当我们是小弱穷国时曾有过的伟大，宽宏和谦逊的气度，而成为一个自以为是，固执己见，不顾别人， 有失偏颇，蛮不讲理的人民。

在我们的舞会上常见的不尊重人，不守规矩，显摆卖弄，危及他人，侵犯别人空间，阻挡交通，撞人，以及其他许多不当行为，都是缺乏INTEGRITY影 响跳舞的例子。探戈讲究礼貌，尊重，体贴，合作，服从，礼让和关爱。自我中心，不顾他人，麻木不仁和自高自大的人无法超越自己，因而不能与人合作，也跳不 好探戈。探戈涉及内部和外部，运动和感觉，优美和舒适，身体和心灵等多种辩证关系。一个浅薄，偏执，片面的人无法超越表面而欣赏探戈的深度。这样的人往往 只注重步法而忽略舞伴关系，舞伴间的连接，感觉，舒适，态度，及探戈的礼仪和文化。他们认为能跳花步的就是好舞者，但事实未必如此。我们有时看到一个舞者过分表现自己而让他的舞伴相形见拙。这样的人是好舞者吗？一个好舞者不能只有技能，还需要具备INTEGRITY。

很多人认为跳得美的探戈就是好探戈，这也未必是事实。探戈既有看得见的一面，也有看不见的一面。人们可以发展旨在提高视觉印象的技能，也可以发展旨在增加感官快乐的技能。有人故意偏离探戈的精髓，开放拥抱，分离舞伴，牺牲探戈的亲密，深情，感性和舒适，只追求令人乍舌的视觉效果。这样的舞蹈纵然看起来惊险夺目，我也不认为是好探戈。一个好探戈是集多种元素，包括感性，亲密，感情，心灵共鸣，舒适，优雅和美丽为一体的。

INTEGRITY不 仅是人品和思维严谨的问题。探戈更适合重视整体价值而不是只重视个人价值的文化。在一个重视整体价值的文化中，人们学会超出自我考虑问题，学会体贴，尊重 他人和与人合作。过分强调个人自由和个人主义可以让人把“我”看得高于一切。当这样的人有机会说了算的时候，那往往是事情在我们的政治舞台和探戈舞会中会 如此一团糟的原因。

INTEGRITY是超越有形，外表和自我而理解他人对自己，不见对所见，实质对表面，内容对形式，感觉对运动，舒适对美丽等的重要性。探戈需要INTEGRITY，因为它涉及到很多元素。让我们希望，正如一位读者所说，“探戈是帮助这个文化走上正道的又一个工具。”

*注：INTEGRITY具有整体，全面，完整，完美品德等多种意思。

Tango and Integrity

The way we dance tango reflects who we are. We are a big, strong and powerful nation. We are accustomed to that small and weak nations listen to us, and not we listen to them. We tend to do whatever we want, or have our own way, despite what other people want or value. We disregard other nations’ sovereign rights, launch wars in the name of freedom, overthrow governments that we don’t like, violate their entitlement to their own creations—Argentine tango, for example, and treat which disrespectfully at our will. Our politicians fight only for the special interests they represent and fail to balance the interests of all people. “My way, or no way!” is how they do things in Washington and elsewhere within and beyond our borders. We have lost the greatness, magnanimity and humility that we used to have when we were a small, weak and poor nation, and become a self-important, single-minded, inconsiderate, unbalanced, obstinate, and arrogant people.

Contempt, disobedience, showoff, self-glorification, endangering others, invading other’s space, blocking the traffic, running into people, and other misconducts in our milongas are examples of how the lack of integrity affects our tango dancing. Tango requires manner, respect, thoughtfulness, cooperation, obedience, yielding, love and care. A self-centered, inconsiderate, insensitive and arrogant person is not able to see beyond oneself, thus cannot cooperate with others and dance tango well. Tango involves dualities such as external and internal, movement and feeling, beauty and comfort, body and soul, etc. A shallow, obstinate and unbalanced person cannot see beyond the surface and appreciate the depth of tango. Such individuals tend to focus only on the footwork, and overlook the partnership, connection, feeling, comfort, manner, etiquette and culture of tango. They think that he who can do fancy steps is a good dancer, but in fact that is not necessarily true. We sometimes see a dancer so over performing himself it puts his partner into shame. Is such man a good dancer? No. Skills alone do not make a good dancer. It takes integrity as well.

Many people think that a beautiful tango is a good tango. That is not necessarily true either. Tango has both tangible and intangible sides. One can develop skills aiming at increasing its visual impression, or one can develop skills aiming at increasing its sensual pleasure. There are people who deliberately deviate from the essence of tango, break the embrace, drift apart the partners, and sacrifice the intimacy, soulfulness, sensuality and comfort of the dance, just so that they can achieve stunning visual effects for impression. I don’t think such is a good tango even if it looks dazzling and striking. A good tango embodies a pleasing integration of all elements, including sensuality, intimacy, feeling, emotion, soulfulness, comfort, elegance and beauty.

Integrity is not only a matter of moral character and sound thinking. Tango fits better a culture that values integrity than a culture that values self-interests. In a culture that values integrity, people learn to think beyond oneself and be more considerate, respectful and cooperative. Overemphasis on personal liberty and individualism could make people put “me” above everyone else. When such people gain the opportunity to be in charge, that is often why things get so wrong in our politics and milongas.

Integrity is the ability to see beyond the tangible, external and self, to understand the importance of others to oneself, the invisible to the visible, the substance to the surface, the content to the form, the feeling to the movement, and the comfort to the beauty. Tango needs integrity because it involves many elements. Let’s hope that, as a reader said, “Tango is one more tool to help this culture on its way.”

探戈中的平衡

由身体位置和姿势的变化而引起的感觉被称为平衡感。内耳中的半规管和前庭器官是产生平衡感的器官。因疾病，药物或酗酒而造成平衡器官功能失调的人不能很好地保持平衡。平衡感可以通过训练来提高。有些经过训练的人比其他人有更好的平衡感。例如，女子体操运动员可以在平衡木上做高难度的动作，杂技演员能凭良好的平衡感走钢丝。有经验的舞者也有很好的平衡感，他们能够在复杂的运动中保持平衡。

跳舞就象骑自行车。骑自行车是用车轮来保持平衡。跳舞是用步子来保持平衡。所有的舞者都需要有良好的平衡感，而女人尤其如此，因为女人在跳舞时是由男人驾驶的。男人把女人的身体往他想要她移动的方向略微倾斜。女人移动多远则取决于她的平衡感。如果她不准确地踩在为保持平衡而必须踩在的位置，她就可能站不稳。站不稳的女人得依赖于男人的帮助，从而变得沉重。男人可能喜欢女人偶尔依赖他的感觉，但如果她总是挂在他身上并抓着他来做每一个旋转和扭动，那对他也会是相当的负担。女人需要知道，保持自身的平衡是她在舞蹈时显得轻盈的关键。有些女人习惯性地依靠男人来做维持平衡，结果，她们自己的平衡感未得到发展。

探戈因两个舞伴在舞蹈中亲密地靠在一起形成一个A字形框架而有自己独特的平衡问题。A字形框架是个互相支持的稳定框架。无经验的女人往往没有意识到，她对男人的支持同男人对她的支持一样重要。如果她向后仰，就会使他失去平衡。有时女人斜靠在男人身上多一点，这并无太大妨碍，因为男人强壮而女人轻盈。但是，如果她斜靠得太多，也可能变得沉重。用倾斜的姿势跳舞需要背部强健。背部无力的女人不能维持这种姿势，尤其是当男人搂她搂得比较低时。有经验的女人会向两个方向跟男人保持对称的抗衡力量：他的胸把她向后顶，而他的胳膊把她向前搂。有些女人在对抗时用力过猛，从而变得沉重。女人需要知道，与男人保持平衡是与他保持一种静止的匀速直线运动或匀速旋转运动，而不是与他摔跤角力。她应该小心地使用适当的抗衡，以避免变得沉重。

另一方面，男人应避免搂女人的腰，因为那可能限制她的行动，并在她软弱的部位增添压力。个子高大的男人应该用肚子而不是胸脯来带领身材矮小的女人。他应该避免前倾过多或弯腰撅腚，因为如果她的背部力量不足的话，那会导致她向后仰。随着她背部力量和平衡能力的增强，她或许能承受更大的压力，能更多地斜靠在男人身上以扩大运动的可能性，甚至想要男人搂着她的腰。男人经常看到有经验的舞者这样跳舞或那样跳舞。有些男人可能会在舞伴还没有这些能力之前就试着模仿他们。请记住，探戈可以以许多方式跳。每个人都应该选择适合自己舞伴能力的方式来跳舞。

Balance

The sense induced by the change of the body’s location and position is called the sense of equilibrium. The semicircular canal and vestibule in the inner ear are organs related to this sense. Those whose equilibrium organs are dysfunctional due to disease, drug or alcoholism cannot keep their balance well. Balance can be improved through training. Some people have developed better balance than others as a result. Woman gymnasts, for example, can do difficult movements on a balance beam. Acrobats depend on their good sense of equilibrium to do high-wire walking. Experienced dancers also have a good sense of equilibrium so they can stay balanced in complicated movements.

Dancing is like riding a bicycle. In bicycling one uses the wheel to keep balance. In dancing one uses the steps to keep balance. All dancers need to have a good sense of equilibrium, but a woman particularly needs so because she is the one being driven by the man in the dance. The man leads the woman by tilting her body in the direction that he wants her to move. How far she moves, however, is decided by her sense of equilibrium. If she steps not exactly where she should to keep her balance, she could fall. A falling woman relies on the man for her stability, thus becomes heavy. The man may like the feeling that the woman occasionally depends on him, but if she hangs on him all the time, and holds on to him in every turns and twists, it could be quite a burden for him. A woman needs to know that keeping her own balance is the key for her to be weightless in the dance. Some women habitually rely on men for their movement and stability; as a result, their sense of equilibrium fails to develop.

Tango has a unique balance problem because the two partners intimately lean on each other to form an A-shape frame in the dance. The A-shape frame is a stable frame in which the two partners support each other. An inexperienced woman often doesn't realize that her support for the man is equally important as his for her. If she leans backward, she could pull him off his balance. Sometimes the woman leans slightly more on the man than the man on the woman, which is okay because he is strong and she is light. However, if she leans too much on him, it could be heavy. Dancing in a leaning position demands strength on her back. A woman with a weak back cannot sustain in that position, especially when the man holds her low. An experienced woman maintains certain resistance in symmetry to the forces that the man applies on her in both directions—his chest pushes her out, and his arm pulls her in. Some women counteract men with too much force, thus become heavy. The woman needs to know that to balance the man is to maintain a state of stillness, uniform-speed rectilinear motion, or uniform-speed winding motion, not to do wrestling. She has to be careful about how much resistance she applies to counteract the man, and avoid being heavy.

The man, on the other hand, should avoid holding the woman on her waist, as this may restrict her movement and add pressure on her weak spot. A tall man should use his stomach rather than chest to lead a short woman. He should avoid leaning forward too much or bending his torso against the woman, as this may cause her to bend backward if she does not have a strong back. As her strength and balance improve, she may sustain more pressure, lean more on the man to expand her movement possibilities, or even want the man to hold her on her waist. Men often see experienced dancers dance this or that way, and some may try to imitate them before their partner is ready. Keep in mind that tango can be danced in many ways. One should choose a way that suits the ability of one's partner.

人们为什么跳探戈舞?

我们跳探戈舞的原因与生活中的阴暗面有点关系。有人说他们跳探戈舞是因为他们喜欢探戈音乐，但他们可以在家里听音乐。有人说他们是喜欢运动，但他们也可以做操锻炼身体。有人说他们喜欢探戈无拘无束的形式，但武术或许也能让他们得到这样的满足。有人说探戈在艺术上具有挑战性，但芭蕾舞在这方面标准更高。如果这些是人们跳探戈的原因，那就不会有探戈了，因为替代的东西很多。

探戈之所以为人们所喜爱有它独特的原因。大多数舞蹈都是为庆祝生活而创造的，但探戈却服务于不同的目的。它是由不幸的人们为躲避痛苦而发明的。他们来舞会不是为了炫耀自己，而是为了暴露自己的脆弱和寻求安慰，为了在舞蹈中跳出自己的孤独，思乡，怀旧和悲伤，为了找一个可以依靠的肩膀，为了躲入一个可以疗伤的避难所，为了满足对爱的渴望，为了触摸另一个人和被另一个人所触摸。这些都是普通人，穷人，移民，工人，服务生，店员，女佣，和出租车司机。他们也许貌不出众外表卑微，但你与他们跳舞时会感觉到，他们的怀抱是温暖而深情的，他们的心地是敏感而富于同情的，他们的感觉是深沉而真挚的，他们的动作是粗犷而有感染力的，他们的舞蹈是充满激情和感伤的。探戈是他们的避难所。这舞蹈的亲密，深情，感性和安慰，映照着并能满足他们内心深处人的需要。这种探戈，是仍然在不太富裕的社会如阿根廷和乌拉圭的舞会上跳着的探戈。

当然，并不是所有的人都有这需要。富裕，成功，自大和浅薄的人，举例说，喜欢探戈的美丽，却不认同它的目的。相反，他们用探戈来庆祝自己的生活，赞美自己的成功，夸耀自己的时髦，显示自己的傲慢，和炫耀自己的优越。传统探戈对他们来说是太朴素了，所以他们进行更改：采用开式拥抱，发明花哨步子，增添卖弄的技巧，使用另类音乐，交换男女角色，等等。结果，他们创造了一种作秀版的探戈。它看起来花俏而感觉空虚。这种探戈现在在我们这样的富裕社会成了一种时尚。

探戈在过去曾多次大难不死，我相信它也能战胜这一挑战，因为人的需要，欲望，渴望，柔弱，孤独，感伤，情爱，彼此依恋，和浪漫主义是人类本性的一部分，即使是心地最硬的汉子也在所难免。不幸的人当然更容易受伤害，这就是为什么他们创造了探戈。这也可以解释为什么探戈舞会在经济不景气的时候比经济繁荣时更加拥挤，为什么女性跳探戈的比男性更多，为什么探戈的复兴发生在世界上游子和移民比以往任何时候都多的现在。探戈永远是孤独，思乡，怀旧，渴求，脆弱，感伤和浪漫者的舞蹈​​。幸运的人也需要探戈，如果他们不被自己的成功和自大所盲目的话。毕竟，我们是人，而探戈是为所有向内寻找其人性的人创造的。

Why People Dance Tango

The reason we dance tango has something to do with the gloomy side of life. Some people say they dance tango because they like the music—but they can listen to the music at home. Some say they like the movements—but they can move their body in acrobats as well. Some say they like the unrestrained form of tango—but martial arts may give them the same satisfaction. Some say tango is artistically challenging—but ballet raises that standard even higher. If these were the reason people dance tango, then there would not be tango, because the alternatives are many.

Tango triumphs for a unique reason. While most dances are created to celebrate life, tango serves a different purpose. It is created by the less fortunate to shelter their sorrows. They do not come to the milonga to play peacocks, but to expose their vulnerability and seek comfort, to dance the loneliness, homesickness, nostalgia, and grief in them, to find a shoulder to rely on, to take refuge for their wounds, to quench their thirst for love, and to touch and be touched by another human being. These are the ordinary people, poor people, immigrants, workers, waiters, waitresses, shop assistants, maids, and taxi drivers. They may not be splendid in their appearance, but you feel it when you dance with them—their embrace is warm and affectionate, their heart is sensitive and sympathetic, their feeling is deep and sincere, their movement is raw and infectious, and their dance is passionate and sentimental. Tango is their refuge. The intimate, soulful, sensual and comforting nature of tango reflects and serves their deep, inward, human needs. This is the tango still danced in the milongas of less affluent societies, such as Argentina and Uruguay.

Not all people share these needs, of course. Rich people, successful people, arrogant people, and shallow people, for instance, like the beauty of tango but don’t embrace its purpose. Instead, they use tango to celebrate their life, to glorify their success, to show off their style, to display their ego, and to boast their superiority. The traditional tango is too modest for them, so they make changes—opening up the embrace, inventing fancy steps, adding ostentatious tricks, using exotic music, swapping gender roles, etc. As a result, they created a peacocky version of tango. It looks flashy and feels empty. This kind of tango now is the fashion in affluent societies such as ours.

Tango has survived many challenges in the past. It will survive this one as well, I believe, because needs, desires, yearnings, loneliness, tenderness, sentimentalism，mutual dependency, love, and romanticism are an intrinsic part of human nature even among the toughest. The less fortunate people are particularly vulnerable, which is why they created tango. This may also explain why milongas are more crowded in bad times than in good times, why more women dance tango than men, and why the revival of tango happens now when there are more travelers and immigrants in the world than ever before. Tango will always be the dance of the lonely, homesick, nostalgic, needy, vulnerable, sentimental and romantic. The fortunate people need tango, too, if they are not blind by their success and arrogance. After all, we are human, and tango is for all who search inward for their humanity.

CADENCIA

很多人把按音乐跳舞单纯理解为踩在节拍上，其实其中还有许多含义。例如，跳舞时使用CADENICA也是这方程式的一部分。CADENICA的意思是身体随音乐的节奏和速度而摆动。换句话说，按音乐跳舞不仅涉及步子的计时，也涉及身体摆动的计时。CADENICA是探戈舞的关键技术之一，可是往往被人们忽视了。

学习CADENICA，你首先需要学会摆动你的身体。大多数人甚至不知道如何摆动他们的腿，更不用说摆动身体了。要摆动腿，你得把重心放在一条腿上，同时把你的上身和胯提起，让另一条腿悬挂着，可以象钟摆一样自由摆动。您需要让那条腿的膝关节和踝关节垂直，使腿看起来修长秀美。现在，设想你的腿不是从胯部而是从胸部开始，也就是说，想象从胸部以下都是你的腿。胸部是你与舞伴相连接的地方。它可以作为把其下所有部分当成一个整体来摆动的支点。这样一来，不仅你的腿看起来修长而秀美，你整个的身体也显得瘦高而优雅。

摆动身体就象摆动一根三节棍。第一节是上身，第二节是臀部，第三节是腿。第一节的一点点摆动，将导致第二节较大的摆动，又将导致第三节更大的摆动。跟随者应该将身体放松，让带领者摆动她的上身，上身的摆动会带动她臀部的摆动，而臀部的摆动又会带动腿的摆动。她不应该在身体未动时就先动腿，而应该让腿跟随身体摆动。换句话说，腿的摆动不是由腿部肌肉引起的，而是躯干和臀部摆动的连锁反应。

这摆动是沿着水平方向。许多学生做不好CADENICA，因为他们只专注于沿垂直方向把脚踩在节拍上，缺乏沿水平方向的运动。做CADENICA需要每一步都产生足够的沿水平方向的运动。脚必须踩在节拍上，但惯性作用使身体在脚着地后继续沿水平方向摆过重心，直到另一只脚落地，或直到惯性减弱，身体摆回来。 CADENICA是两步之间的身体摆动。它感觉起来就好象浪拍击在岩石上后，水继续向前涌，然后撤退；又拍击在岩石上，继续向前涌，然后撤退......

一个好的领舞者知道如何利用惯性，按音乐的节奏和速度来摆动跟随者。领舞者必须意识到，跟随者是否按音乐跳舞在很大程度上取决于他的带领。许多时候，跟随者没有上拍是因为她的身体被摆动得太少或太多，太慢或太快，使她不能踩在节拍上。一个好的领舞者能够摆动得恰到好处，所以跟随者可以准确地踩在节拍上。同样，一个好的跟随者也会按音乐摆动她的身体和腿，尽力配合领舞者的带领。

CADENICA既用于社交探戈，也用于表演探戈，但它主要是一种社交探戈的技术，旨在提高舞蹈时的感官愉悦，而非视觉印象。使用CADENICA不仅需要良好的乐感，而且需要高超的平衡控制能力。这不是一件容易的事。然而，一旦学会了，两个亲密拥抱的身体随着音乐有节奏地一起摆动的愉快感觉会给舞蹈增添无穷的乐趣。

Cadencia

Many people think of dancing to the music only as stepping on the beat, but there is much more in it. Dancing with cadencia, for example, is also a part of the equation. Cadencia means the swing of the body in correspondence with the rhythm and speed of the music. In other words, dancing to the music involves not only timing the steps, but timing the swings of the body as well. Cadencia is one of the key techniques in tango that are essential to the dance but often being overlooked.

To learn cadencia, you first need to learn to swing your body. Most people don’t even know how to swing their leg, let alone to swing their body. To swing the leg, you need to stand on one foot and lift up your torso and hip until your free leg hangs loosely and can swing freely like a pendulum. You need to keep the knee and ankle of the leg straight while swinging it, so the leg looks long and graceful. Imagine, now, that your leg does not start from the hip but from the chest, that is, imagine everything below your chest is your leg. The chest is where you and your partner connect. It can be used as a fixed point to swing everything below it as a whole. That way, not only the line of your leg looks long and beautiful, but your whole body also looks tall and elegant.

Swinging the body is like swinging a cudgel of three linked sections. The first section is the torso. The second section is the hip. The third section is the leg. A little motion of the first section will lead to a bigger motion of the second section, which will lead to a still bigger motion of the third section. The follower should relax her body and let the leader swing her torso, which brings along the swing of her hip, which then brings along the swing of her leg. She should not move her leg first without the swing of her body, but should let the leg follow the body to swing. In other words, the swing of the leg is not caused by its muscle but by the swing of the torso and hip in a chain reaction under the law of mechanics.

The swing is in the horizontal direction. Many students fail to do cadencia because there is a lack of horizontal motion in their movement and they only focus on the vertical motion of stepping down on the beat. In order to do cadencia you need to produce enough momentum in the horizontal direction in each step. The foot must land on the beat, but the horizontal motion of the body continues after the foot lands, carrying the body to pass over the center of gravity due to the momentum until the other foot lands on the beat, or until the momentum diminishes and the body swings back. Cadencia is the motion of the body between two steps. It feels like after the wave of water hits the rock, it runs over it, and then retreats, and hits the rock again, runs over it, and then retreats…

A good leader knows how to use the momentum to swing the follower in correspondence with the rhythm and speed of the music. Leaders must be aware that whether the follower dances to the music depends to a large degree on the lead. Often, the follower fails to step on the beat because her body is led to swing too little or too much, too slow or too fast, disabling her to step on the beat. A good leader creates just enough swing, so the follower’s leg may land exactly on the beat. Likewise, a good follower times the swing of her body and leg to the music as well. She complements the lead in her own capacity.

Cadencia is used both in social tango and in performance tango, but it is primarily a social tango technique aiming at increasing the sensual pleasure rather than the visual impression of the dance. Dancing with cadencia requires not only excellent musicality but also superb balance control. It is not an easy task, but once you’ve learned to do it, the sensation of two bodies swinging together in a close embrace in unison with the rhythmic flow of the music will make the dance mush more pleasurable.